FRAMINGHAM - At a budget forum Thursday night, Superintendent Stacy Scott said he's confident in his administration's plan to close the remaining $1.6 million gap in the district's spending plan for next year.

"I wouldn't ever want to propose this unless I was extremely confident this was doable," Scott told a handful of people who came out to Framingham High School for the event, one of several budget presentations the superintendent is giving this month.

To make up the difference between his $111 million budget and the $109.4 million figure recommended by the town, Scott is relying on late-arriving government money as well as leftover savings in the current fiscal year's budget. The former money includes a combined $480,000 in federal McKinney-Vento homeless aid spanning fiscal 2014 and 2015, which Scott said the town is allowing to pass directly to the district, as well as $300,000 in circuit breaker special education funding from the state.

The district has also implemented a financial freeze for the rest of this fiscal year to reap another $487,000 in savings in the fiscal 2014 budget that can be rolled into next year.

Lastly, Scott said the school department will be able to save $350,000 when retiring teachers are replaced by new, less expensive hires.

As a last resort, the town is willing to chip in an additional $500,000 via a special Town Meeting vote in the fall, but Scott said he doesn't think that will be necessary.

"The last thing I plan to do is come back to the town for more money," he said. "It doesn't do well for building trust."

Adding in the last $1.6 million, the schools and town have already whittled down an original $4 million gap in the fiscal 2015 school budget.

Only six people showed up for Thursday night's forum, including two selectmen and one school board member. While those attendees asked several questions specifically about the budget throughout Scott's presentation, the discussion eventually turned to the lack of participation in what some of them thought should have been a critical event for residents.

Selectwoman Cheryl Tully Stoll said the forum could have been televised for those not able to make it.

"People should not have to pay a babysitter to come and learn about their schools," she said. "We're not being as transparent with the public as we need to be."

Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottOConnellMW